Polish Eagle Show
Hosted by : Laurie Hoxie
Sunday 8:00 - 10:00 Am
The Polish Eagle Show has got to be one of the longest running radio shows in America. Laurie Hoxie's father, Victor Zembruski, started the show on WATR September 3, 1934. Laurie's mother,
Sophie Zembruski, co-hosted the show with Victor in the 1940's, taking over full time in 1969. Sophie handed the mike
over to Laurie after her 90th birthday in 2008, having been on the air for over 60 years.
When Victor Zembruski first appeared on WATR he had just turned 22. His 12 piece Orchestra was called the
“Victorians”. Initial format of the show was variety, featuring Polish-American music. Within 3 weeks he
was appearing three times/week, two shows featured Polish Music & Variety, and one featured Popular Music
& Variety. Circa 1936-37 the Orchestra’s name changed from ‘The Victorians’ to the ‘Victor Zembruski Orchestra’. There are
newspaper accounts of over 2,000 attendees at some of his engagements. Victor first recorded for United States Record Corporation’s
Varsity Label, circa May 1940. His last recording session was August 1963 for Eurotone International Limited’s Eurotone Label.
Over his career he recorded over 200 tunes, mostly for the Continental and Remington Labels.
Throughout the 1940’s Sophie helped write and arranged the show, occasionally stepping in for Victor if he was ill.
The show was called Polka Time. Around 1950, Sophie began appearing with Victor regularly in a Mr. & Mrs. format. By then the show was
called the Polish Eagles Show. Sophie took over full time when Victor became incapacitated by a stroke in late 1969. The show then became
known as the Sophie Zembruski Show. Sophie has received many awards for her work in broadcasting, even becoming ‘Mayor of Naugatuck for the Day’
in 2002. Just this past March 10th, 2010, the Polka America Corporation awarded Sophie one of their first five annual
‘Frankie Awards’. “…this award was created to recognize outstanding contributions and service to Polka
Music in the name of Frankie Yankovic. The Frankie Award is a national service award, given to those
individuals whose efforts have been instrumental in sustaining the polka genre.”